Britax Releases Anti-Rebound Bar for Canadian G4 Convertible Carseats

Woohoo! After stalking my mail lady all week awaiting the arrival of the anti-rebound bar (ARB) available upon request to all registered Britax G4 convertible carseat owners in Canada, it finally arrived while I was outside enjoying the sunshine (full review of G4s here). I’m impressed. It’s lightweight, easy to use, and straightforward to install. From my very brief test it takes up a tiny bit more front-to-back space (maybe 3/4″-1″ at most, quite possibly less if a person was motivated to gain that space back by compressing the vehicle seat back with a lot of enthusiasm), but the benefits far outweigh that minor issue. It’s already a very compact seat so that 3/4″ isn’t likely to be a make-or-break situation for most people.

Why is it such great news? Until now, Canadian G4 seats must be tethered rear-facing, a marked difference from the G3 seats, and also from American seats (Canada has an anti-rebound standard in our testing process, the US does not). Britax responded to concerns from techs and parents not keen on having to rear-face tether, and this ARB removes that requirement. In Canada we may only tether Swedish-style (down to a fixed point forward of the seat, using the provided D-ring) if the vehicle manufacturer expressly permits it, and to my knowledge, none do. So Aussie-style it is, meaning straps in the way when loading and unloading, and potential incompatibilities if the tether anchor is too far away. Britax does make a tether extender but in the moment that doesn’t work for a lot of people, and the development of the ARB is a much better solution in my opinion, both as a tech and a parent. Please note that these will not be shipped automatically to current owners. You must contact Britax Canada at 1-888-427-4829 to request one free of charge. Please be advised that supplies are limited and may be subject to shipping delays.

So.Totally.Awesome. I hope they come to the US, though it’s too late for that product to save me from all the fruitless digging I’ve done in some cars (cough, BMW, cough) for a good place to tie the D-rings for RF tethering.